NEW YORK, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces today its speaker program for TEDGlobal 2012, the organization's flagship Europe-based conference. Held annually in Edinburgh, Scotland, TEDGlobal will run from June 25 through June 29, and feature a range of inspired thinkers from around the globe. This year's theme is "Radical Openness."

"We've designed our program this year to reflect – and explore – the radically open world we live in today," said TED European Director and TEDGlobal curator Bruno Giussani. "Radical Openness will look at both the openness made possible by the internet and digital technology, as well as radical and open thinking writ large. TEDGlobal 2012's speakers will show us that all bets are off when it comes to what openness, collaboration and mutual understanding in an ultra-connected world mean for human potential."

TEDGlobal's ground-breaking speakers will range from a scientist whose iconoclastic approach led to cancer treatment breakthroughs, to a criminologist who studies future crimes – that is, crimes that haven't been invented yet; from the MIT inventor of a camera that sees around corners, to a diva who creates live music using body gestures; from a neuroscientist imaging thousands of brains at work, to the military commander thinking about the global commons.

The TEDGlobal 2012 confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order):

Boaz Almog, Superconductivity scholar

Michael Anti, Chinese blogger

Vicki Arroyo, Expert on climate mitigation

Massimo Banzi, Physical computing maker

Mina Bissell, Cancerologist and biologist

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Neuroscientist

Andrew Blum, Internet infrastructure traveller

Rachel Botsman, Collaborative consumption author

Hannah Brock, Guzheng player

Heather Brooke, Author

Keith Chen, Behavioural economist

Robin Chase, Founder, BuzzCar

Leslie Chang, Author

Gabriella Coleman, Digital anthropologist

Amu Cuddy, Psychologist

Raghu Dixit, Musician

Kirby Ferguson, Filmmaker

Pankaj Ghemawat, Globalization expert

Marc Goodman, Future criminologist

Antony Gormley, Sculptor

Macy Gray, Singer

Michael Hansmeyer, Computational architect

Neil Harbisson, Cyborg artist

Imogen Heap, Music diva

Margaret Heffernan, Management author

Kathy Hinde, Bird piano inventor

Ellen Jorgensen, Open biology advocate

Mohsin Saeed Khan, Medical doctor

Daphne Koller, Education innovator

Ivan Krastev, Political scientist

Hassine Labaied, Wind power innovator

Robert Legato, Visual effects creator

Beau Lotto, Neuroscientist

John Maeda, Designer

Becci Manson, Photo retoucher

Jason McCue, Lawyer

Jane McDonigal, Game designer

Wayne McGregor, Choreographer

Robyn Meredith, Author and anchor

Matt Mills/Tamara Roukaerts, Augmented reality designers

Read Montague, Neuroscientist

Catarina Mota, Open material expert

Daria Musk, Web music sensation

Beth Noveck, OpenGov advocate

Robert Neuwirth, Stealth economist

Natasha Paremski, Pianist

Vikram Patel, Psychiatrist

Sanjay Pradhan, Economist

Eddie Obeng, Educator

Amy O'Tool, Student

Ramesh Raskar, Femtophotographer

Preston Reed, Percussive guitarist

Usman Riaz, Percussive guitarist

Elyn Saks, Mental health lawyer

Shyam Sankar, Computer scientist

Andreas Schleicher, Education expert

Shimon Schocken, Computer scientist

Gerard Senehi, Experimentalist, mentalist

Maurizio Seracini, Art diagnostician

Clay Shirky, Networks scholar

Jason Silva, Tech filmmaker

Sarah Slean, Singer

Laura Snyder, Science historian

Susan Solomon, Stem cell advocate

Malte Spitz, Green politician and data activist

James Stavridis, Admiral, Supreme commander NATO

Deyan Sudjic, Cities thinker

Don Tapscott, Futurist

Marco Tempest, Illusionist

Jonathan Trent, NASA scientist

Karen Thompson Walker, Author

Ruby Wax, Comedian and mental-health advocate

John Wilbanks, Data commons proponent

Two of the conference's sessions will be guest-hosted by neuroscientist Sarah Caddick and globalization expert Parag Khanna. Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

850 people from over 40 countries are expected to attend. Around the world, people can watch the conference with a TED Live membership, the annual membership that offers access to a private live webstream of both the TED conference in California and TEDGlobal. The TED Live webcast comes complete with a digital platform to communicate in real time with fellow members. Other TED Live membership benefits include one year of TED Books (short eBooks by TED speakers and Fellows) and an Amazon Kindle Fire to view them on. Learn more here.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter or on Facebook.